h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

O.K. Some input, I can't help myself...

Here are my options :

1. God does not exist.

No discussion possible.


2. God exists but gave Man responsibility for the world.

In that case God made an incredible mess of his job and there are things I would like to ask him sometime. How can you create something in all your wisdom(for which the Christian God is renowned) and forget to take into account the fallibility of humans ?
And please : the first researcher who starts to spout that : 'God works in mysterious ways'-stuff will receive an Idiot of the Month Award.


3. God exists and is still watching(a simplified statement but you know what I mean).

In my opinion, this God should be banned for eternity as He is doing it on purpose. And there IS NO VALID REASON for letting people suffer as they do. There is no reason for babies to die, just because there is no food available. Why doesn't He bake some bread and catches some fish once more ? His Son could do it so he should be able to.


In the end, for me it all comes down to option 1. God does not exist and It Is Our Own Fault That The World Is As It Is. So stop blaming others. Both other options would mean there is a God who is, to say the least, incompetent. I would not want an incompetent God, I'd rather have none at all.


By the way : some people on the forum have said that you have to try to love everybody, even if they're dictators, murderers or Adolf Hitler. In response to that I would like to say : 'Complete and utter b******s' ! If you are a Christian you should know about the Devil. If Good exists in the form of your Lord, then Evil also exists in the form of your Devil. So why can't a person be evil in itself ?

There is No Way In The Whole World that I can 'forgive' criminals like Adolf H. and the likes. And I would like to see a real Christian stand up and say otherwise, especially one who lost his/her whole family in the Endlosung.


These are just some of the most elementary questions you can ask, but I have never heard a good explanation. Through the years I have discovered that the closest I can get to religion is Humanism. And that does not require the existence of God.

To quote Michael Valentine Smith : 'You are God. We all are'.


TM.

It is the sum of all of humanity that makes us what we are.

By the way : It must have been quite a lot of work, writing that article. My compliments on writing an article about religion that spawns so many reasonable discussions without people resorting to abusive language etcetera.

TM.

I guess it's been too long since I've checked out this article, and I missed your comments. I do appreciate them. Especially the bit about personal responsibility. People have used God as an escape clause for their own horrible behavior for too long. Only when you strip away the myths can you begin to realize the damage we do to ourselves, each other, the planet, etc.

Anyway, that was the idea here. I want to strip away a few myths. We are too educated a people to have a Moral Majority.

Hi there C.S.,

***Anyway, that was the idea here. I want to strip away a few myths. We are too educated a people to have a Moral Majority. ***

Shouldn't that read :

"Anyway, that was the idea here. I want to strip away a few myths. We are too AMORAL a people to have a Moral Majority. ?"

O.k. so it may sound a little pessimistic but...

TM.

I am surprised at the comments of so many atheists who say "God does not exist". What do you know about what God is, to say whether He exists or not? What is your definition of God? If you can find that, then only can you begin to discuss whether It exists or not.

About the loving everybody thing:
I almost completely agree with you. It is only when you are truly evolved enough to actuallt feel love towards all things, can you love all things. But even then, you have to destroy evil things and people, out of love, for their own good and for the good of others.

Cool. I'm done.

hello!

1. God does not exist - hard to deny that god exists. So many people in so many cultures have a concept of God. That God is even seen so often to promote the same values! Often these are the ideas of singular people and are seen as revolutionary to the culture so to say that it is naturally formed by society is also unlikely.

2. God does exist but gives man free will. Look at all the aspects of the world and how it fits together so well. Nothing unholy about it. Obviously there are aspects of the world that aren't so good, but is our free will not good enough that the world should not exist?

The gnostic version of the Christian religion even goes as far as to suggest a devil like figure who is created by God with free will and creates the world himself. God not wishing for suffering alters his creation as it is created. Thus the creation is good despite the alterations by the malign creator who spawned it. In this view we are diamonds in the mud and need to be set free and only the ultimate God from which all things come can save us.

3. Obviously man is responsible for all free will he is given but to a certain extent he is at the mercy of the elements. His life is a physical battle for survival and a spiritual battle for faith. Eventually God will rescue us all from our partial creator and we will return to a state of comfort and tranquility.

Hello, Random String of Numbers...

1) Show me a "revolutionary" idea, and I'll show you how that idea came about centuries before anything arrived that reflects your particular concept of "god."

2) "Look at all the aspects of the world and how it fits together so well. Nothing unholy about it." - Define "unholy." The Bible defines many things as unholy, and they all exist in the world... disease, incest, sodomy, mutilation, cannibalism, and George W. Bush.

3) How do you know?

Hi 226909,

With the same type of reasoning I could 'prove' to you that Erich von Daniken is right. So I am not convinced that you are using proper arguments to convince me...

TM.